The Hawaiian gazette., 1887-11-01
rEprroRIAL-1

WHur it Is nor deemed obligatory
on s public journal 70 reply to 0nony-
nous communications ir other
papers, Yet. while the general public
are not supposed to be posted N the
journalistic code, IL : occasionally
expel6ent, on important matters, Tor
& uaper to notice such eEUSlOns, \
correspondent signing 'OulOOker, III
the B. tearS his malc0nteut pas
SION 10 tatterS IN reference 10 8 COM
rnent we made upon the letter Of s
coreSpordeut regarding the nOtOrl-
Gus opium scandal, The writer to
oUr contemporary falsely represents
the GAZETTE u trying 10 conceal the
RESPONSIBILITY OF the Ministers for
pOcUrlng 8 settlement Of the OdorouS
obligation, whereas nothing Of the
kind could be gathered from Our
brief remarks. The position OF our
correspondent was 50 much IN har-
mOuy with what We deem to be public
sentiment on the matter that we had
nothing 10 say against lt, But the
GAZETTE having been the only paper
independent enough TO haye instI-
tuted enquiries Of the Ministry re
garding progress IN fulfilling the de
nand Of the mass meeting. and 70
have given the result Of such en-
ouirieS to eur readers some time pre-
yious. we considered that IN view Of
the near approach Of the Legislature
AnothinE remained for Us, IN discharge
of our duty. but 70 refer the matter
to the representatives Of the people
who have 70 pass upon the acts Of the
Ministry since taking Office, 1t should
be ereueubered. further,tha5, when the
GAZETTE previously drew attention TO
the apparent unsettled state Of this
matter. q correspondent Of the BILE
tia-perhaps .-OnIOoker over another
siEuature- gave vent to s low sneer
at the idea Of the popular demand be
ing enforced The information above
referred 10, given IN this paper pre-
yiOusly. was 70 the effect that efforts
were being made 10 raise the amount
unlawtully taken from the unsuccess
ful opium license syndicate. For
auSht we know those efforts may
have ended IN restitution, but at
the time Of writing the note now
aSSGlled 50 SayageIy. or since,
we could not make It convenient
To enquire further into the posi-
ton Of the affair Let the critic
reply 10 our remark. questioning
the power Of the Ministry. on its
merits and perhaps he viii be less
glib IN his animadyersi0us- 1t i one
thing for popular Indignation at q
white heat TO be productive Of de-
mandS, but when as IN this case the
power II the back Of those demands
has Disappeared from the stage of
action. the matter resolves itself into
one for settlement BY the cold pro-
cess Of law and Judicial opinion
There are fresh powers conferred upon
the Ministry by the new Constitution
born Of the mass meeting. for the
proper use of which the Ministers
must be held 20 S1rIct account But
whether those powers extend 10 I'M
uerGtiye authority for compelling the
settlement Of question arising out
Of Z transaction such GS the opium
bribe, which does not appear On any
Of the departmental books or come
within the official pUTvleW Of Mn.
listers Is administrators Of the laws Of
the land. i another question The
Kings denial Of completely N the
transaction and his promise 10 sub
NIT the subject to the new Cabinet
were tacitIy accepted by the repre-
SentatIves Of the mass meeting. other
wise. according TO the resolution Of
that assembly. there would have
been an adjourned meeting called al
the lapse Of twenty four hours In
accordance with the terms Of HIS
Maiestys reply. he was the party to
take further action. We dc not
admit the truth Of the matters =
but VIII submit the whole subject To
Our new Cabinet. Such was the
Kings promise Now suppCsinE that
promise has not been redeemed. VIII
the sariaEt correspondent Of the
Bu2riE eulI-Gten the public - 20
that provision Of the Constitution OF
that portion 0e the statUtes- under
which the Ministry should proceed
IN order to compel the fixing Of re-
sro1s5bIIIty fur the ezt0EtI0n OF the
brIbe and the making lt the de
uardsd restItuc0n2 Possibly there
exists the necessary authority and
known to the Ministry too but as yet
We have not had the opportunity
Of e1q1Elng into the matter
Neither DO we know whether the Min
Istry has taken any definite action
upon the subject We know that It
would be the proper thing To make
enquiries N those regards. but the
newspaper business N this country L
not vet 80 lucrative q to afford I
stat. large enough to oTertake all the
work sometimes required TO be done
However. the GAZETTE has done more
than any Of It's contemporaries n
keeping the opium brIbe II public re-
collection 80 as % have Il settled II
re,demutiou Of national repUtEtion